Thursday, October 31, 2013

If you celebrate Halloween, I hope you had a great day! We went trick-or-treating, and the kids had a blast. My youngest was tired, and by the end, he kept saying he was out of time. LOL!

It's Friday (well, almost) and time for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge. The challenge is to emboss--either heat or dry embossing. You have two weeks for this challenge!

Since it's still technically Halloween when the post goes live, I went with a Halloween card. Actually, it's that I really wanted to use this stamp and forgot to sooner.

The Shadow Monster stamp cracks me up! This stamp is huge, but I managed to heat emboss all of that solid area. I nearly gave up a few times, but I did it. ;) I colored the girl with Copics and added a sentiment from Hey Pumpkin set. I'm linking up the card with this week's Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

Here's a close-up:

If you'd like to play along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge, this week's winner will receive a gift certificate to Ellen Hutson.

Hi everyone! Happy Halloween! The Glitz teams are having a blog hop today to showcase the Raven collection.

If you haven't seen this collection yet, it is gorgeous! I used it for Halloween projects, but I think the papers would be great for non-Halloween projects, too.

First up, I made a treat box using the digital collection:

I die-cut the treat box on my Cameo using the pretty woodgrain paper from the digital Raven Paper Pack. For the Pointed Feathers, I painted the tips of the paper with liquid gold leafing. Once the leafing was dry, I added coarse glitter to the edges. I'm in love with the translucency of the liquid gold! I may be adding it to everything around my house. :)

I trimmed a thin strip of of the black and white Raven paper, added the liquid gold on the back side, and curled it around a pencil. It's adds a bit of whimsy. :) Below the bow, I added the Trick or Treat sentiment from the Element Pack #2.

For my second project, I made a card using the digital collection:

I used the grey stripe paper and lowered the opacity. I layered two of the bats from Element Packs #1 and #2 and printed the background. For the sentiment, I wanted a little dimension, so I used the same technique in THIS video I made--I printed the sentiment from Element Pack #1 and then die-cut it on my Cameo.

The faux-gold is wicked cool!

As part of the hop, Glitz Design is giving away a full paper and digital collection. To enter, you can comment on this post. The winner will be chosen randomly from the entire hop, so to increase your chances, you can comment on the other blogs. Be sure to only comment once, though. :)

I wanted it to have an artsy feel. I used the stamping-off technique for the background, using a maple leaf from the Paper Smooches' Leafy Greens set. Since I wanted it to look a little more watercolored, I then watered down white paint and went over the top with a dry brush.

The sentiment is the Love Word, which I die-cut from glitterstock. I intentionally weathered the edges with my fingers and even added a bit of embossing paste to the bottom edges (thanks for the enabling, Debby!) Here's a close-up:

I'm not sure if I love it or hate it, but I'm glad I tried a new technique (for me).

I started by dragging mists in the background like Corrie Jones did in THIS video. I took four different colors of mist and loosely dragged them in a circle. The inks ran together a little, which was really cool looking!

The background below wasn't what I used on the card, but it gives you an idea of what the dragging mist looked like before I added the layers:

For the clustering, I printed different elements and papers out of the Dapper Dan collection. The bow tie under the man's chin is a digital brush. For the plaid, I printed the paper on vellum for a different look. Here's a close-up:

So what's the last new technique that you did? How did it turn out?

One final plug for the Dapper Dan collection--you can buy it HERE. It's on sale for today only. :)

Monday, October 21, 2013

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a card that was on the Glitz blog last week. We had a theme of pink and green, and I was flipping through my Glitz files. Even though it's not pink (and doesn't have much green), I ran across a journaling card in the Hello December Elements with a sentiment I *loved.*

Has anyone else read the children's book Mommy In My Pocket? It's one of my favorites, but such a tear-jerker (like Old Yeller territory). If you haven't read it, the story is about a child who is starting school, and wishes she could shrink her mom and put her in her pocket during school. The book ends with the mom saying no matter what happens, her love and hugs will last.

Anyway, the sentiment reminded me of the book, and I wanted to make a card with it:

I recolored the sentiment on the Hello December journaling card and layered it over the pink Unchartered Waters digital paper. I loaded the paper into my Silhouette Studio, printed it, and then die-cut it. I also die-cut the ombre chartreuse arrow paper from the Finnley collection.

Here's a close-up:

One thing I want to point out is the centering of the sentiment. If I had put the printed paper on my Cameo mat and die-cut the circle, there's a good chance the sentiment wouldn't have been centered (or straight for that matter). ;)

I figured out a way to cut the circle and center the image, and I made a video of the process. I started in Photoshop Elements and then used the Silhouette Designer Studio program. You can click on the YouTube link to see it in HD.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

It's time for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge, and the challenge is to make a tag and either a treat bag or gift box. This challenge is a two-weeker. :)

I broke out my CAS-ual Fridays stamps and dies to make this tiny treat box:

I die-cut a basic box using my Cameo, adjusting the width of the box to fit the die. The tag ties around the box, and you could slip it off to open the lid.

For the tag, I used the larger Bubble Labels die from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, punched holes in the sides, and scored it. The sentiment, from the new Christmas Carols set, is heat embossed in gold. Here's a close-up:

If you'd like to play along with this week's CAS-ual Friday's challenge, you can link up your tag and bag/gift HERE.

So are you gearing up for the holidays yet? Anyone else making cards already?

All of the stamps will be for sale at midnight tonight (CST). You can purchase the stamps at the NND store.

We're sharing projects using the SEA-son's Greetings stamp set. There are some super cute images in this set, and many work for non-holiday projects, too.

So my holiday card is a little non-traditional to say the least:

The background is stamped using the anchor from the SEA-son's Greetings set. I didn't draw sketch lines for my background--I just eyeballed it, and the anchor is a pretty forgiving stamp. Next, I die-cut the tag from Paper Smooches and added washi tape to bring in another color.

The fish stamps are three different stamps. I love the Santa hat on the biggest fish! I finished off the card with a sailor's knot. I used the same knot on THIS card, but for some reason, it looks more like a pulley on this card. Ha ha. Here's a close-up:

Aren't they cute? If you would like to win SEA-son's Greetings, this set will be given away to two lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
1. Comment on Newton's Nook Design blog.
2. Comment on the Design Team member and guest blogs (see the list below).

You have until tonight (10/17) at 9 pm CST to comment, and the winners will be announced on the NND blog on Friday.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

We're sharing projects using the Holiday Wishes set. I gave a sneak peek of this set on THIS card. I love having versatile sentiment sets, and this one is great! Here's the card I made using the set:

I was going for a rustic Christmas card, but I *had* to add in some metallic elements. I started by splattering some Mr. Huey's Opaque White on the card and stamping snowflakes from the Newton's Holiday Mischief set.

For the sentiment, I heat embossed the "peace" and "joy" from the Holiday Wishes set. I finished off the card by die-cutting the tree on my Cameo and adding a silvery tree topper and some glitter to the limbs. Here's a close-up:

Yep, it's hard to see the sentiments. Sorry! You can see the sweet snowflakes.

Would you like to win Holiday Wishes?
This set will be given away to two lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
1. Comment on Newton's Nook Design blog.
2. Comment on the Design Team member and guest blogs (see the list below).

You have until Thursday (10/17) at 9 pm CST to comment, and the winners will be announced on the NND blog on Friday.

Today, we're sharing projects for the Canine Christmas set. Want some dogs to go with the kitties? This one is for you! Here's what I created:

Isn't the Scottie adorable? The very first stamp I ever owned (when I was 8) was a Scottie stamp. Yes, I still own it. ;) I think it was from the Lillian Vernon catalog. Remember that catalog (and all of their personalized items)?

Anyways, I colored the Scottie with Copics, paper pieced the cape and bow, and fussy cut him. I paired him with the awesome sentiment from the set. Here's a close-up:

Would you like to win Canine Christmas?
This set will be given away to two lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
1. Comment on Newton's Nook Design blog.
2. Comment on the Design Team member and guest blogs (see the list below).

You have until Thursday (10/17) at 9 pm CST to comment, and the winners will be announced on the NND blog on Friday.

Monday, October 14, 2013

The ever-awesome Jennifer Rsaza asked me to guest at Runway Inspired Challenge. I love the inspiration pictures she chooses and the design team members always have jaw-dropping cards. I'm *really* honored to participate!

Isn't it cool? I actually started three different versions of a card for the challenge. I stamped, I altered cool digital papers, I stamped something different, and I finally ended up with one card:

I started by stamping the Thick Stripes in the background, and yes, I am completely in love with this stamp. I can't stop using it! The print on the model's skirt reminded me of a Rorschach test, but instead of going in that direction, I stamped two leaves from the Thankful for You set.

The patterned papers, the sentiment, and the label are digital, and all of them were altered to get the colors and scale I wanted. *sigh* I love that about digital. :) I was going for a crazy mix of patterns, and I think that happened. Hee hee

Here's a close-up:

I love that it's imperfect. :)

Like the inspiration picture? Ellen Hutson is the sponsor for this week and you could win a gift certificate to the store:

We only have one cat now, but for a few years, we had two. Marma was the older, ornery cat that had once been an indoor/outdoor cat before she adopted my husband (i.e., she was a toughie). Years later, we adopted Bullwinkle, who was pretty young and playful. As you can imagine, Marma was not very happy about a younger cat and spent a lot of time hissing at her. Every once in a while, though, they would be sleeping next to each other. :) I was thinking of them when I used the cats and sentiment for the card.

I stamped the Newton kitty twice, colored, and fussy cut them. For the sentiment, I used a sentiment from another set I'll be sharing this week. Here's a close-up:

Would you like to win Newton's Holiday Mischief?
This set will be given away to two lucky winners!

Here's how to win:
1. Comment on Newton's Nook Design blog.
2. Comment on the Design Team member and guest blogs (see the list below).

You have until Thursday (10/17) at 9 pm CST to comment, and the winners will be announced on the NND blog on Friday.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Hi everyone! It's going to be a crazy week on the 'ole blog--lots of posts. I'm writing up my posts now and trying to minimize the blah, blah, blah. Who am I kidding? There's still a little blah, blah...I can't help but talk. ;) I hope you'll check them out the posts this week.

You can use either version for the SPARKS challenge. Now that I look at the sketches again, I guess I used a combination of both. Oops! Here's my card:

Since I have a 7-year-old girl, I always seem to need little girl birthday cards for birthday parties. I started by stamping the castle from Paper Smooches' Royal Cuteness onto the easel from I Heart Art. After I colored and fussy cut the image, I added the sentiment.

For the background, I stamped on scratch paper and then stamped the stars from Space Cadet onto the panel. I stamped a few first- and third-generation stars to create a bokeh effect. Here's a close-up:

If you'd like to play along with this week's SPARKS challenge, you can link up your Paper Smooches creations HERE. You can also check out the rest of the design team's projects:

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Yep, it has to be one of my favorites--add real or faux stitching on a card. It's no secret that I love to sew on cards. :)

I've been dying to use my new Amuse stamps, and I was glad I had a chance to use them for the challenge:

I.am.in.love. Do you ever have those moments where you come across a scrappy product and you *have* to have it? I had that moment when I saw the Hey Foxy stamps.

I die cut the fox, acorn, and leaves, and then I broke out my stamp positioner to stamp the images (they're cling stamps). I stitched a line to look like the leaves were falling and then another under the fox. Looking at the card, I wish the thread around the leaves was a different color. For the sentiment, I used a stamp from Simon Says Stamp.

Here's a close-up:

I want to squeeze him!

If you want to play along with this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge, you can link up HERE. This week, the challenge is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. I hope you'll play along!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great week! We've been busy at home helping our daughter with school projects. She has to do a presentation on Argentina. Most kids are doing PowerPoint presentations (second grade, already??), but she chose to make comic strips. ha ha Yep, totally my kid!

I started with the bird/music layering paper from Vintage Blue and added the "LOVE" element over it. I simply printed the paper in the background, stitched, and inked the edges.

I thought the center panel seemed a little too plain, so I added a glue border and rolled it in gold glitter. I wasn't going for a perfect border (yeah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Here's a close-up:

If you'd like to buy the Vintage Blue (on sale today only!), head over to digital store. You can also see the rest of the digital DT's projects on the Glitz blog.